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Note: The complete checklist is below. Small Biz Thoughts Community Members can download an editable Word docx version of this checklist. See the Checklists category or What's New area.

Any time is a good time to review your social media presence and make sure it’s working hard for you.

It’s very important that you consider two factors before you spend time tuning up your social media:

1. (For each service) What role will this social media service play in our marketing for the next twelve months?2. (For each service) How frequently do we plan to post on this service? Who is responsible for this?

Use this list as a starting point. If you have specific things you do with social media, make sure appropriate updates are added to the list.

Facebook – Personal Profile•Cover PhotooIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Profile PictureoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Profile OveralloVerify that it’s up to date and reflects your current branding•Going Forward . . .oWhat “voice” do you want to project on Facebook?oHow will you achieve this with your personal profile?

Facebook – Business Pages and Groups (for each)•Cover PhotooIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Page “Profile” PictureoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Page Information OveralloVerify that it’s up to date and reflects your current branding•Going Forward . . .oWhat “voice” do you want to project on this Facebook page/group?•Advertising the Page/GroupoHow will you drive traffic to this group/n this Facebook page/group?oWhat and how will you advertise TO this page/group?

LinkedIn•Background GraphicoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Page “Profile” PictureoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Profile Information OveralloVerify that it’s up to date and reflects your current branding•Going Forward . . .oWhat “voice” do you want to project on this LinkedIn group?•LinkedIn GroupoConsider starting a group focused on your prospects and clientsoWhether starting a new group or tuning up an old one, determine how you will use that group to make more salesoWhat and how will you advertise TO this group?

YouTube Channel•Background GraphicoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•“Profile” PictureoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Channel Information OveralloVerify that it’s up to date and reflects your current branding•Going Forward . . .oWhat “voice” do you want to project on your YouTube channel?•Review PlaylistsoDo you have Playlists that have become old, irrelevant, or neglected?oDo you need to create one or more new playlists with specific goals?•Review or Create Welcome VideosoIf you have welcome videos, make sure they are up to date and relevantoIf you do not have welcome videos, make them!

Twitter•Background GraphicoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•“Profile” PictureoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Channel Information OveralloVerify that it’s up to date and reflects your current branding•Going Forward . . .oWhat “voice” do you want to project on your YouTube channel?

Pinterest•Background SettingoIs it representative of the “branding” you want?oSet to recent activity vs. latest pins•Profile PictureoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Review BoardsoDo you have too many boards?oDo you have unused/neglected boards?•Overall . . .oDoes your Pinterest serve your brand? If not, how can you tune it up?

Google+ / Google ProfileUnfortunately, Google will create a “plus” account for every email you have ever used with any Google-own property. This includes YouTube, Feedburner, Blogger, Gmail, reCaptcha, Smarty Pins, Android, Chrome, Waze, Nexus, and many more.So the first job is to pick one Google+ account and pay attention to that.. . . although you might also just make sure none of the others has been taken over by hackers.•Profile PictureoThis one is particularly important since it will appear on many Google propertiesoVerify that your profile background is new and appropriate•Community MembershipsoMake sure you only belong to communities you want to.oAccept pending invitations to communities if relevant•Follow and unfollow peopleoAs long as you’re on the page, go ahead and tune up your following•Settings TaboAgain, as long as you’re there, verify that settings are correct for privacy, connections to sites, and so forth

Instagram•Profile PictureoIs it good? Do you need to update it for the new year?•Update bio, email, etc.

Your Personal or Company BlogYes – Your personal or business blog is part of your social media. This is especially true if you’re using tools to cross-post and promote to and from your blog.•Background Graphic / TemplateoDo you have a good, modern template? In addition to having the right graphics, it needs to look good on a phone and tablet.oLayout settingsoTemplate or Theme•Profile PictureoIf it’s not controlled on the blog itself, it might be at gravatar.com or another avatar system.•Is your blog up to date and does it look “live” to visitors?

Hootsuite or Other Social Media Aggregator•Have you connected all the social media accounts you want?oAfter going through the lists above, are there social media accounts you want to add to this list?•Is the right amount of activity scheduled to post for the next several weeks?

. . . And While You’re At It . . .•Connect all relevant accountsoWhenever you’re editing a profile on any social media, go ahead and connect it to other social media so you can easily crow-post as needed.•Collect stats on all accountsoFor many social media, this is easier on the computer than on the phoneoFollowers / Following / Total Posts / Posts within a time span / etc.•Add or remove folks you’re followingoAs long as you’re logged in, you might as well increase following/followers. Remember, some people only follow you if you follow them.

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There you go! That should keep someone in your company busy for a few hours.

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About the Author

Karl W. Palachuk, is a technology consultant, author, speaker, trainer, and coach. He is the author of fifteen books. He has built several successful businesses, including two managed services companies. His books include Managed Services in a Month and The Network Documentation Workbook. Karl is a frequent trainer and speaker in the SMB Community. His popular blog can be found at SmallBizThoughts.com. He has more than twenty years experience as an I.T. professional and serves on advisory panels for several hardware and software companies.

Get an edge on the competition

With each issue packed full of powerful news, reviews, analysis, and advice targeting IT channel professionals, ChannelPro-SMB will help you cultivate your SMB customers and run your business more profitably.